What's in a name?
by ladyblaque
Summary: "My name tells you everything you need to know about me. Who I am, what my abilities are and what kind of life I have. My name is something which I hate. If I could change it I would. I hate it. I detest it." That was what Koko thought until a girl changed his opinion. One-shot KokoXSumire. Please review!


**_Hello! Please enjoy this one-shot and remember to review at the end!_****  
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**_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters._**

* * *

**What's in a name?**

My name tells you everything you need to know about me. Who I am, what my abilities are and what kind of life I have. My name is an indication of my status and my position on society.

My name is something which I hate. If I could change it I would. I hate it. I detest it.

"Stay away from him."

"A child like that can have no place in society."

"It's a pity for him to be born with such ability."

"The unwanted child."

"The accursed one."

That was what people say when they are around me. It was a cross I had to carry by myself. Who wanted to associate themselves with a person who would reveal their deepest darkest secrets? Who would ever want to become friends with a person who could bring up a memory locked away so deep in the recesses of their minds? Who would ever love a person who could tell if you really loved them or not?

Who would?

I hated my gift. I cursed it. It was the one thing which tore my family apart. It was this accursed gift which caused my parents to be killed. If anyone could go back in time, I'm sure they would have locked me up in the house and prevented anyone from knowing my existence. Despite being the only child, I was not loved like other children; in fact, I was the shame of my family.

At the age of 3, my parents were assassinated and I lived with my strait-laced grandfather who was one of the most well-known businessmen in the country. Once my gift was out of the bag, my grandfather stripped me of my real name and gave me a new name. It served as a punishment to me, for revealing my ability to the world during a banquet.

Unknown to everyone, the man who was boot-licking at my grandfather's banquet actually had ill-intent for him. Holding on to the hand on my nanny, I dragged her up to the man who was talking with my grandfather and uttered the words which caused everything to happen.

"This family does not need a partnership with a man who is talentless, cruel and vicious. Go away and leave this place."

"_**Who is this insolent brat who dares to defile me in this place? I'm going to make him pay."**_

"Who is this insolent brat who dares to defile me in this place? I'm going to make him pay."

Apparently, I had offended one of the government officials by reading his thoughts. How was a three-year old supposed to know he was a government official. Ji-chan actually knew of this man's hidden intentions and wanted to catch him off-guard, but having to protect his 'face' as a renowned businessman, he publicly punished me.

"From this day on, you will no longer be called by your name; you will no longer bear the name of the Yome family. Due to your insolent behaviour which has caused the shame of this family, you shall bear a name which suits your status. This gift which you have is not a gift but a curse and with it, you shall bear its consequences, Kokoro Yomi."

With a crooked finger, my grandfather pointed at me. That was the verdict laid upon my three year old self

From then on, I was addressed as Kokoro Yomi, or mind-reader in Japanese. No one dared to disobey the order my grandfather gave, him being the patriarch of the family. No one ever called me by my real name anymore.

I forgot my real name. I forgot who I was once before and my life revolved completely around my given name and the abilities I had inherited.

That, was until I met, _her_.

* * *

_17 years later_

_**Beep Beep Beep**_

I stirred out of sleep and rolled out of bed at the sound of an incoming message. Looking at my phone which was ringing non-stop at my bedside table, I squinted at the bright words which illuminated in the darkness.

"**You have 10 minutes to get here; otherwise, I'm deducting your pay for this month. You know what to bring."**

"_Sheesh, demanding as always."_

Flicking on the switch to the lamp, I got dressed in partial darkness, trying not to wake my sleeping friend, Kitsuneme. Pulling a simple cotton shirt over my head, I unhooked a grey dress shirt and wore it unbuttoned over the cotton shirt. Then grabbing my favourite pair of jeans which I could only wear on weekends, I pulled my legs through them and fastened the belt. Taking a look in the mirror on the wardrobe side door, I ran my hands through my brown hair and looking satisfied, shut the room door quietly. Stuffing my phone down into my pocket, I left my room and made my way to _her_ room.

"_It's 5 in the morning. Can I ever get a decent sleep around here?"_

Reaching the large white door, I knocked in a well-known tempo which was our secret way of telling each other who we were.

"_**Enter"**_

Not needing to read _her _thoughts twice, I opened the door and shut it behind me.

There sitting on the couch dressed in her nightgown, she stretched out her hand and demanded the bag which I brought with me.

"Are you sure you want to be doing this?" I asked _her_.

"Who are you to question me? Just give the bag here and don't turn around, I'm changing."

I walked towards her and passed her the pink bag, that's where she added, "don't you dare read my thoughts while I'm changing either." I turned around and waited till the shuffling and ruffling of clothing stopped before turning back to face her.

"Let's go."

"_**Sheesh, did he have to pick out such a dodgy print for this shirt?"**_

"_Whoops, read her thoughts."_

_**Beep beep beep**_

"You read my thoughts. That's a deduction of 1000 rabbits from your pay." She smirked and walked to the balcony.

"_Damn that stupid Imai and her inventions. I should just destroy them when I get the next time."_

"You know, you're pretty ruthless. You did say not to read your thoughts while you're changing but now that you're done, I'm entitled to read them whenever I want." Ending up beside her, I looked as she perched herself on the ledge of the balcony. In my mind, I couldn't see what was wrong with the flowery print I had chosen for her shirt which was paired with denim shorts and a cream coloured pair of sandals.

"Shut it Koko. This isn't a time to be arguing with me over your miserable pay. Are you going to show me around town or not?"

I glanced resignedly at the girl in front of me and let out a sigh. Grabbing her waist, I launched off the balcony with her and landed silently onto one of the branches of the tree.

"Trying to get revenge by killing me huh? Another 1000 deducted for an attempt on your mistress' life."

"You said you wanted out of the mansion, I'm doing just that. Unless, you'd rather go back in, _Ojou-sama._" I smirked at the horror which displayed on her face.

"_There's no way she can win against me."_

"_**Idiot Kokoro, I'm going to make him pay."**_

"Yes yes, I'll pay anything that you want during our date all right?" Teasing her, I slowly let her down from the tree which stretched over the walls of the mansion.

"Wh-what?! Who… who said anything about this being a d-date?" She stuttered while blushing furiously. Unknown to her, the sun was slowly rising and I could see the reddened face she was trying so hard to hide.

"Whatever… let's go shall we? Your parents will be back tonight and we have to get you back before they find out you were out on a date with your personal butler." Grabbing her hand, I slowly led her to the town which was beginning to come to life.

"S-stop saying the word d-d-date!" She screamed at me while I dragged her.

"Fine I will, but you have to give me back my 1000 rabbits." I negotiated with her.

"All right, but no mind reading."

"Fine, Sumire-_hime_."

* * *

Despite the town being relatively near the Shouda Mansion, it took us about half an hour to reach there by foot. By then, the town was buzzing with activity. Stalls of various kinds were set up, people were shouting, trying to attract customers to buy their goods. The people walked around, glancing at the goods sold and haggling for a lower price.

Just as I was about to suggest getting breakfast, Sumire's stomach growled loudly.

She protectively wrapped her arms around her tummy and looked at me vehemently.

"I didn't say anything, but I must mention that your stomach read my mind." I jokingly pointed at her now hidden stomach.

"Could we please get breakfast?" Sumire looked around but something caught her attention. She sniffed the air and grabbed my sleeve; dragging me in and out of the crowd will we reached a stall which was having some sort of competition. Pushing our way to the front, Sumire excitedly looked around and listened to the introduction.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Do you all feel lucky on this fine day? Come and participate in this challenge! All you have to do is identify the ingredient which is used in our specially prepared dishes by its sight and smell! Guess 3 dishes correctly and our famous exclusive breakfast set is yours for free! Step up those who feel up this challenge!" A bulky man in his late forties excitedly exclaimed, drawing the attention of those yearned for a free meal.

"Here is our first dish… the first person to guess correctly will move on to the next stage!" The man lifted the silver lid and revealed a simple omelette.

"Egg!"

"Ham!"

"Parsley!"

People were shouting all kinds of answers but Sumire and two other people shouted the correct answer at the same time.

"Truffle oil!"

Sumire always had a keen sense of smell, much to my annoyance as it was mainly the causing factor to her pickiness in food and perfumes.

"ANNDDDDD… we have 3 people going to the next stage. Those who have not successfully identified the ingredient, please take a step back and allow our 3 contestants to move to the second stage." The man instructed and the crowd moved 5 paces back to allow Sumire and two other men to stand in front of a short table. Giving a nod, three new silver platters were brought out and laid before them. In a synchronised motion, the lids were lifted and the contestants were left to identify the secret ingredient.

Taking a deep whiff of the pancakes in front of her, Sumire immediately raised her hand.

"The missy here is the first to identify the ingredient! Please whisper the answer into my ear."

Having been pushed back into the crowd, I was obviously out of range of Hotaru's device and used my ability to read Sumire's mind.

"_**Manuka Honey"**_

"CORRECT! You move to the next stage! Oh another contestant has identified it as well according to my assistant! Now only two remain! Who will be the winner to our exclusive breakfast set!"

The last platter was brought out and in it was a cup of tea. The other contestant tried smelling it but it obviously had no scent. Sumire's hand shot upwards and the man, obviously excited as to who can identify this mysterious unscented tea, bounded towards her.

"It's oolong tea."

"WE HAVE A WINNER! Come this way missy and enjoy your well-earned breakfast!" The man proclaimed loudly and the crowd gave a short applause before dispersing. Upset over his lost, the other contestant walked away dejectedly before being approached by Sumire.

"If you don't mind, you can have the free breakfast. I always have that at home, so I'd rather a change." Seeing his face lit up, Sumire smiled at him before running back to me. "Let's go. I want crepes for breakfast."

"Hai, ojou-sama."

* * *

"Koko… I say KOKO YOME!" Sumire screamed in my ear.

"You're super noisy today. Will you just zip it for a while?!" Sneering at her while she happily licked the ice cream as we stared at the sunset.

"I did, but I was calling you for the past minute and you just have this glazed expression on your face." Sumire pouted.

Looking at the girl, no, lady beside me, I couldn't help but smile. Unknown to her, she was the light at the end of a very long tunnel. She was the only one who would call me by my real name and the one which made me appreciate the name I was born with, Koko Yome.

"Say Sumire, do you remember the first time we met?" I asked her and she almost chocked on her ice cream.

"You mean the time when you were introduced as my personal butler? That was one hell of a shock. I remember Tono bringing you in when you were 14. You just stood in front of me, all scrawny and looking so pathetic."

"Yeah I remember that. You had a very, **very** bad temper then. Tono told me I was the 4th butler for that month. But luckily you took a liking to me."

"Who said anything about liking you?!" A blush played on Sumire's cheek. I knew that she had some feelings for me, but teasing her about it was my way of having revenge on her, since she ruthlessly just deducts my pay whenever she feels like it.

"I have served you for 6 years now. You must have some sort of liking to not chase me out of the Shouda household."

"Y-you…" Sumire was clearly flustered by my statement, "besides, how was I to know that someone in the Yome family, as prestigious as they are, to let their only heir come and serve the Shouda family?"

Letting out a sigh, I ran my hands through my hair and felt the cool breeze on my skin.

"I was disowned remember? Ji-chan striped me of my inheritance and gave it to my cousin. Glad that he did though, never wanted to take over his company and because of that, I get to spend almost every waking hour with you."

Glaring at me, she looked menacingly into my eyes and I could see my own reflection in her green orbs, "Don't get cheesy with me or I'll deduct another 1000 rabbits."

"But seriously, do you remember the other first time? When we were kids?"

"_She couldn't have forgotten right?"_

"We met when we were that young? Hm… I'm not very sure… OH! During one of your grandfather's elaborate parties?" Her eyes lit up as she remembered.

"Yeah, when we were around 9. You know, if you didn't wander around the estate, you wouldn't have known me. Ji-chan kept me deep within the estate so that no one would bump into me."

"I remember. You had this stoic expression on your face. In fact, you didn't wear any kind of emotion on that face of yours. It was like a blank canvas. Seriously freaked the living daylights out of me." Sumire shuddered at the memory of our first encounter.

_Flashback_

"_What's a girl doing here? Wasn't the doors locked? How did she get into here."_

"_**What's a boy doing here? He looks like he's around my age. Eek he's scary, why is he so emotionless?"**_

"I'm here because I'm put here. Who are you?"

The little girl dressed in a crimson kimono looked at the brown haired boy with a puzzled expression.

"Why aren't you attending the party?"

"You avoided my question."

"_**What's up with this boy?!"**_

"Nothing is up with me. Who are you?"

"It's rude to demand to know someone's name when you haven't offered yours." Sumire huffed at the insolent boy.

"I'm… I have no name."

"Great. I'm Sumire Shouda. Nice to meet you, Mr No-name." Pouting at the boy with the soulless expression.

"_So… she's the daughter of Shouda Corporations."_

Her shrill voice broke my thoughts, "so why aren't you at the party?" Her questioning look ran me over.

"I'm not allowed to parties. Ji-chan said I'm unwanted."

"Ho… is that so? How is it you're unwanted?"

"You haven't heard of my abilities?"

"_**Who is he that I have to know his abilities?"**_

"Who is he that I have to know his abilities?" I repeated after her thoughts in a mocking tone.

She let out a gasp as I read her thoughts. "So you're the mind reader!" Somehow rather than being afraid or disgusted, she seemed rather… excited.

"Yeah. Ji-chan said it's a curse. My name is Kokoro Yomi."

"Ehhh! So your name is mind-reader! That's pretty cool, letting people know of your abilities through your name. It's an ingenious way of naming a child." She walked towards me and tucked her kimono in before sitting down.

"_Does this girl even know that that's a bad thing? Who wants to have such a horrible name?!"_

My face hardened even more.

"You know, despite you not having any expression, I can tell you're getting angry. Your eyes are super scary right now. You should smile more! Otherwise people will get more frightened of you."

My eyes widened. How did she know that I was getting pissed off? The servants all whisper, saying that I have such an emotionless face that it scares them. How can she tell?

"They say your eyes are the windows to your soul. I can tell, Kokoro Yomi, that you were getting angry. Now you're just surprised."

We ended up playing and talking in my room to pass the time. She never failed to call me by my full name and somehow, when she calls me, the name doesn't sound as bad as how the others use it. She got excited when I finally cracked a smile and kept going on and on about how I should do it more often otherwise the muscles in my face would harden.

Finally getting tired, we just leaned on each other and gazed at the moon through the small window.

"I hate my name."

"Why?"

"It defines me. People are afraid of me because of my abilities. They don't want their thoughts to be read and they're afraid I would read them. Because of that, I'm shunned in this huge mansion with no friends and no life. The servants just lay out my clothes and my food and immediately leave the room. No one talks to me in this place." My eyes starting tearing up as an overwhelming feeling of loneliness washed over me.

Sumire placed her hands on my shoulder and turned me around so that I was facing her. She wiped my tears away and quoted, " _"What's in a name? That which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet."_ It's a quote by Juliet from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet."

I looked at her questioningly, not understanding the quote at all.

"What she's saying is that a name is just a name. It is artificial and a meaningless convention, a label for each person so that we are not lost in this vast world. You are who you are and you are not bound to the name that you have. If you hate it so much, why don't you try and change it?"

"Change it?"

"Yeah, I thought of one. Since you can't remember your real name, how about from now onwards, you call yourself Koko Yome! Kokoro is so long and your surname is Yome right? So Koko Yome. Any objections Koko?" Sumire looked excitedly at me.

"_Koko Yome huh. It's not that far off from Kokoro Yomi and it doesn't sound as bad. Wait huh?! I'm given a new name?"_

"All right. Let's start over with the introductions! Hi! My name is Sumire Shouda and I'm 9 years old. Pleased to make your acquaintance." She stuck out her small hand and eagerly waited for me.

"Er… My name is… Koko Yome. I'm 9 years old as well. Please take care of me." Meekly stretching out my hand towards hers, she grabbed mine and smiled happily.

"There! So tell everyone your name is Koko Yome and if they don't like it, you can tell yourself your name is Koko Yome. This way, you won't lose yourself."

The grandfather clock in my room starting chiming, indicating that it was 10pm.

"Ah I have to go, the party should be ending soon. I'll see you the next time I come here all right? See you Koko-san!"

With that, she gave me a hug and bounded out of the room. Disappearing from my world until 5 years later where my grandfather disowned me and I searched for Sumire and applied for the vacant butler position.

_End of flashback_

"So that was it huh?" Sumire listened to the story I recounted.

"Yeah."

After a long period of silence, I stood up and patted away any grass on my jeans. Stretching my hand out, I waited for Sumire to take it. Once she did, I pulled her into an embrace.

"Thank you. Without you, I wouldn't be here now, smiling like I always do and appreciating my name and my abilities." I whispered into her ear.

Sumire just quietly hugged me back.

We stayed like this for a long time, until I accidentally read her mind.

"_**Koko doesn't smell that bad. I like the cologne he's wearing. I like how I feel so warm in his embrace."**_

_**Beep beep beep**_

"Koko…" Sumire spoke while still hugging me.

"Yes Sumire?"

"You read my thoughts."

"So…?"

"That's 3000 rabbits deducted because I thought of 3 sentences."

I immediately released her from our embrace and shouted in disbelief, 'THAT'S MORE THAN HALF MY MONTHLY SALARY GONE! HOW AM I SUPPSE TO LIVE ON 2000 RABBITS ALONE?!"

"You should have thought about that before carelessly reading my thoughts. Let's go back before my parents throw a fit."

"Wait! Give me back 2000, no 1000, no 500 rabbits! I don't have enough to support my family!"

"Don't sprout nonsense Yome, you have no family to take care of. Blame yourself." She immediately started running away and I was closely on her heels, begging her to give me back whatever measly salary I had.

"Ehhhh… Sumire-hime!"

We continued arguing all the way back to the mansion.

Despite everything, I'm glad I met Sumire and now serve her. But overall, I'm glad that I have my name. I am, and forever will be, Koko Yome.

* * *

**_I hope you have enjoyed this one shot! If the reviews are good, I might do a full story for this pairing, so please review! :)_**


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